Academic gathering with a lich-Chapter 787 - 728: The Bishop of Calamity

The dense and undulating mountain ranges served as a backdrop, blocking the players’ paths and sparking their curiosity. Every towering mountain was an exact replica, and the lazy tactic of copy-pasting was a common flaw among all game designers. It seems that once the perspective shifted from the player to the planner, their fondness for intricate complexity moved onto geometric shapes, the simpler, the more beloved.

The overly simplistic background design was akin to a couple of dyed clumps kneaded together; what were clearly mountains resembled the surging waves of the sea, sticking together. The chaotic "mountains" slowly moved, and the verdant surface occasionally showed snowflake-like distortions, revealing the twisted, frightened inner core beneath.

The Intangible Son was prowling in the Elves’ dreams; those long-eared ones immersed in adventure could not fathom how close they were to despair. Thankfully, neither party noticed each other.

The wriggling mountain peaks suddenly shot up, surpassing the surrounding forest scenery, climbing up to the clouds, staring at the bright sun with a posture of admiration. Like enjoying a sunbath, its exposed soft body freely changed, allowing the golden light to stain its entirety. Like a tree absorbing Holy Light, this divine power was transported through its inner root system to its kin.

The Intangible Son thoroughly enjoyed this new strength.

"Holy Light is changing us, we are deviating from the future that Father God has given us," the Intangible Son easily noticed the change within and Lyle’s little cleverness could not escape the instincts of God’s Followers.

But who cares?

"If we will be stronger than that future, Father God will approve of our change," being nobly arrogant made the Intangible Son readily accept the Holy Light, this power that wasn’t inherently theirs. They were convinced that the Power of the Evil God could digest everything, just as Clerics believed in the eternal descent of Holy Light.

"That gatekeeper, truly... a terrifying existence, he must have been an Old God subjugated by Lord Deceiver..." the Intangible Son whispered, actually harboring doubts about the modest Deceiver’s combat power, but facts were before their eyes. The gatekeeper was Lyle’s ally. What? A senior-junior relationship? The relationship web of the Evil God only had masters and servants, and the Divine Child was definitely the master.

The Intangible Son’s attitude toward Lyle grew even more humble, especially after witnessing the Divine Child’s first "Manifestation of Holiness," these growing offspring became increasingly blindly obedient to that great one. It seemed they learned to be considerate of Lyle’s emotions, perhaps, these Intangible Sons also feared witnessing that Deceiver’s insane true face again.

Gigantic creatures were walking in the jungle, but no branches broke, nor did a single leaf fall from their brushing, the Intangible Sons proceeded as if they did not exist here. Because they were the source, the perfect substitute for all material laws. The moment they descended into the realm of dreams, this grand ritual woven by the Blue Dragon and the Druids of Dreams was continually being parsed under their probing. Dissolving laws, discerning magical power, and moving through without touching the lower-dimensional world, the Intangible Sons had obtained authority akin to that of a game administrator.

This was the pasture where Deceiver Lyle cultivated his minions, which should not be wantonly destroyed. The Intangible Sons etched such notion into their hearts, although they did not believe that these lower races, like ants, would be of much assistance to their master, but all the strange idiosyncrasies of the masters were characteristic of the Evil God. Some Evil Gods liked to collect trash, some liked to keep ants as pets, some liked to scare people, some liked to disturb others’ sleep— the master was a miracle, embodying tolerance, tolerating all oddities.

...

When Lyle found this group of Intangible Sons, they were curled up on the mountain peak, watching a group of ants fighting at the foot of the mountain. They made no effort to hide their unique aura, which to their own kind, Lyle, was as noticeable as the stars in the night sky. Moreover, the Blue Dragon Kristo was always monitoring them; wherever the Intangible Sons went, the magic network there would become chaotic and disorderly. It was the Holy Light on the Intangible Sons that stopped the disturbance, as part of the game system, the Holy Light shielded the players’ perception of these bugs.

[Great one.] The Intangible Sons showed their respect to the arriving Lyle, their tentacles reaching out from the entangled cluster, signaling intimacy through the exchange of thoughts. Lyle, wary of the players not being focused, abruptly pulled back the tentacles that were preparing to probe him at the first sign of not paying attention. Following instinct, the Intangible Sons regained their minds, remembering that this great being contained some distasteful matter, their desire to avoid the unclean surpassed their instinctual respect.

Fortunately, the great one did not mind.

Lyle stood on the mountaintop, watching the brawl between two factions of players at the foot of the mountain—it was the fight between the Witherers and the Elders’ Council. They were already quite adept at the new professions, with Magic Bullet Arrows, Holy Light, and Dragon Roar flying chaotically. Lyle turned around, the Intangible Sons presenting as a glowing lump of flesh squeezed together, leaving a two-meter vacuum zone around them, not a single tentacle reaching out.

"You all..."

[Deceiver, My Lord.]

Lyle took a breath, his senses gradually recovering from the intense collective psychic call of the Intangible Sons. These unruly servants of the gods used all their strength in their calls, as if terrified that Lyle would not hear them.

"I shall become your Holy Light leader, your missionary instructor..." After much contemplation, Lyle finally decided to carry on the deception himself, the psychological pressure of continuing to deceive these servile believers significant for a human accustomed to cowering.

Without any objections, the Intangible Sons simply squirmed as usual, accepting the decision as an established fact and moving on. They paid full attention, opening all their eyes, waiting for what was to come.

"First of all, you need to understand why you should believe in the Holy Light."

The Intangible Sons were collectively perplexed. They squirmed violently, passing messages among themselves. [Why? Why does the Deceiver ask such a question?][Whatever the Divine Child wants us to do, we’ll do it, why? Do we even need a reason?][Is the Divine Child testing our loyalty? It makes sense. Though we are kin of the Father God, we originate from different fragments. Perhaps the Divine Child is questioning our purity.][Stop everything, don’t think, don’t hide, express our most straightforward and sincere selves, the Deceiver understands our purity.]

In an instant, the Intangible Sons froze, becoming a thick, twisted backdrop behind Lyle, their eyes vacant of thought, staring at Lyle like imbeciles.

Lyle looked at them, seeing only his reflection in their large eyes, along with purity, a blank void of nothingness. It was a gaze he had never encountered before. Among Cassandra’s meticulous scheming, Andrey’s deceitful tactics, when had Lyle ever been stared at by a group of fools, separate from those he knew who were either wise or cunning scoundrels? Even Karen was far more astute than these Intangible Sons.

"Have you never thought about anything? About correctness, benefits, or the like...?"

"Whatever the Divine Child says is right, the Divine Child’s benefits are our benefits."

Lyle looked up at the sky where the metaphorical sun of [Justice] was illuminating the dreamscape. Bound by the Holy Light, these Intangible Sons were really no more than brainless land-dwelling jellyfish.

Tossing aside the Holy Light Canon, which he had worked hard to interpret and consult with the gatekeeper on, Lyle raised his index finger. At that moment, this fragile human bone became the Sword of Judgment; it was the Ten Commandments, the Heaven’s Decree.

The Divine Child delivered an oracle.

"You should remember..."

"One lives for the pleasure it brings."